A Love Haiku to the Beach

This is my entry for the “500 Reads Haiku Challenge” hosted by Carolina Borges.

💙💧💙💧💙💙💧💙💧💙💙💧💙💧💙💙💧💙💧💙💙💧💙💧💙💙💧

Sand between my toes.

Sea breeze caresses my face.

Waves crash, paradise.

💙💧💙💧💙💙💧💙💧💙💙💧💙💧💙💙💧💙💧💙💙💧💙💧💙💙💧

When I was a teenager growing up in Perth, I spent many weekends and school afternoons at the beach. I couldn’t get enough of that beautiful white sand and crystal-blue water.

Then one day, my dad, who was in the Army, got the call: we were moving to the rat race that is Sydney.

I always hated Sydney. After a few attempts at trying to get to the beach, I gave up. I didn’t have a car, so it always involved catching multiple buses and lots of walking.

When I did get my licence, I had to drive over 40 minutes to find a beach, and if it was a hot day, everyone was doing the same thing. The traffic was terrible. Once you arrived, you had to pay almost $1,000 in parking (well, that’s what it felt like). When you finally made it down to the water, it was brown, and the sand was a weird orange colour!

Luckily, I eventually met my husband, who also hated Sydney, and we quickly made a plan to escape back to Perth.

Once we were settled and summer hit, I was at the beach nearly every weekend. It was only a 10-minute drive, and getting there was simple. Some days, I’d wake up and feel like I couldn’t be bothered to go, but as soon as I felt the sun on my shoulders and I inhaled the sea air, I knew I’d made the right decision.

Since our son was born, getting to the beach has been a lot harder. I tried once last year, and it was a nightmare. I had to buy a trolley to carry the mountain of items we needed, plus a beach umbrella to keep him out of the sun. The umbrella quickly blew away, and he started running up to strangers and rummaging through their bags.

I’m hoping we can attempt a few more beach trips this summer now that he’s a little older.

I really do miss the beach!